Taekwondo Kwak Min-ju wins bronze medal at Asian Games... “My goal is to win a gold medal at the LA Olympics”

(Toyohashi [Japan] = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Dong-han = Kwak Min-joo (22, Korea National Sport University), who won the bronze medal after suffering a painful defeat to his arch-rival, looked forward to the next event despite endless tears.

Kwak Min-joo lost to Ozoda Sobirzonova (Uzbekistan) with a round score of 0-2 (3-13 2-12) in the women's 67kg semifinals of the Taekwondo sparring at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Toyohashi General Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 2nd and won a bronze medal.

As both the first and second rounds ended in one-sided losses, Kwak Min-ju could not stop crying even in the joint coverage area (mixed zone) after the game.

She confessed, "I've lost to Sovirzonova twice. Today is the first time I've lost by such a large score," and "I think that's why I feel very upset."

Sobyrzonova is Kwak Min-joo's archenemy.

Kwak Min-ju lost to Sobirzonova in the finals of last year's WT President's Cup Asia and this year's Asian Championships and had to settle for a silver medal.

On this day, he was unable to overcome his opponent's wall and lost all three matches.

It was a result that was difficult for Kwak Min-ju to accept easily.

He said, “I can be proud that I prepared to the best of my ability,” and “I think the results were very poor compared to the effort I put in.”

He continued, "Sovirzonova is small, but she has that much strength and speed," and added, "I think I don't play well when playing against that style."

Nevertheless, Kwak Min-joo pledged to ‘win 4 games in 3 games’. He said he would definitely win the fourth match.

He said, “If I feel the way I am now, I would like to meet Sobyrzonova as soon as possible and try again,” and added, “I am angry that I lost by a large margin.”

He continued, "My goal is to go to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. I think I'm in the process now," and added, "I will never be frustrated here. No matter what, I will definitely win a gold medal at the Olympics."